Sports Round-up

8:12PM GMT 01 Jan 2002

Lawn Tennis

Defending Hopman Cup champions Switzerland went out of the tournament after Tommy Robredo, of Spain, unexpectedly beat their No 1 player Roger Federer, 7-6, 6-2. Robredo's win maintained Spain's 100 per cent record in the mixed team event this year after they beat Argentina 3-0 on Sunday.

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario had given Spain a good start with a 6-2, 6-0 demolition of Miroslava Vavrinec and she later partnered Robredo to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Federer and Vavrinec in the mixed doubles for another 3-0 victory.

Second seed Goran Ivanisevic, of Croatia, needed three sets to beat Austria's Stefan Koubek at the Qatar Open in Doha.

The Wimbledon champion won the first-round match 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 during a break from his six-month compulsory military service.

Golf

James Vargas, of the United States, won the Junior Orange Bowl International in Florida by 11 strokes from the outstanding young Spaniard Rafael Cabrera over 72 holes. Vargas had amazing rounds of 64, 65, 68 and 64 on the Biltmore course.

England's challenger, Stephen Lewton, did exceptionally well to finish fifth. The Woburn 18-year-old had rounds of 69, 71, 71, 66 for an aggregate of 277.

Peter Benka, chairman of the Walker Cup selectors, is delighted that Garth McGimpsey, the Irish international and former Amateur champion, has agreed to captain the next Great Britain and Ireland side to face the Americans in 2003 at Ganton in Yorkshire. McGimpsey, 46, has played in three Walker Cup matches and still has a plus-one handicap.

Motor Racing

The Toyota Formula One team are to test for the first time alongside other teams at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, on Jan 10.

The Cologne-based Toyota team have tested in private at the Paul Ricard circuit in France and at various other European tracks in preparation for their introduction to grand prix racing this year.

Ice Hockey

Superleague chiefs are to investigate a behind-the-scenes row between referee Nigel Boniface and top coach Mike Blaisdell. The Sheffield Steelers coach was furious at Boniface's handling of their Challenge Cup match against Bracknell.

Blaisdell and his former NHL netminder Ryan Bach were handed gross misconduct charges for their actions and were automatically banned for one game.

Table Tennis

Andrea Holt, three times England champion between 1991 and 1995, plans a comeback and hopes to be given a chance to play for England in the Commonwealth Games this summer.

Holt will play in the national championships at Sheffield on March 2-3, her first big test in England for four years.

Gliding

Wet weather curtailed the World Championships in South Africa, leaving the penultimate day's overnight positions as final. Britain's Mike Young (LS8), a previous leader of the standard class, took the silver medal after finishing fifth on the 10th day, 136 points behind Frenchman Laurent Aboulin, who won the gold.

Cricket

The Australian team have offered to play a benefit match in aid of the bushfire crisis ravaging New South Wales. Team captain Steve Waugh said yesterday: "We're willing to help in any way we can on this."